It was Friday morning,

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1 Journey of Faith A Healing Miracle of the Holy Rosary This touching story gives powerful testimony to the grace and miracles we can receive through the trusting recitation of the Most Holy Rosary. Here, two mothers were at work. One, the Mother of God and our Mother, and the second, the mother of the doctor who was in a terrible accident. A Report given to the Fatima Center by Maria G. It was Friday morning, January 19, My son left the house at 6:30 a.m., thinking that it would be his final day at the hospital he currently worked at. Things were prepared for his next job in New York City. Dr. X was waiting for this ambitious young doctor, who was coming to learn the most current techniques in ophthalmic surgery, because he always had wanted to be very good at whatever he did. So, with much hope and a good deal of energy, he was already planning his soon-to-be future in New York City. But God had a different plan for him! 45 minutes after he had left the house, I received a phone call from one of his colleagues. He broke the news to me: my son had been in a serious automobile accident, and at that very moment, they were placing him in a Life-Flight helicopter and transporting him to the best trauma hospital in the area. I was speechless for a moment; but when I was able to talk, I had only one question: Will he survive? His colleague would not give me an answer but advised me to go to the trauma hospital immediately. My whole body started shaking and shivering; Was I ready for the worst? Perhaps he s already dead, was a thought that passed through my mind. My youngest son drove me to the hospital. On the way there, I kept begging God to let me see him alive. He is too young and he has helped so many people. He even gave up his vacation time The Fatima Crusader Issue 97

2 going to Africa several times to perform eye surgery on so many poor patients. Please save his life! When we arrived at the trauma hospital, he had already been transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. The attending doctor realized who I was and suggested that I talk to my son, who could hear me. I spoke to my son, telling him that he was in excellent hands. I also promised him that we would pray for him and ask God to take care of him. His Heart Stopped However, I had a very uneasy feeling inside of me; that things would not turn out the way I wanted them to. My son looked dead with blood all over his face and head. It looked like his right eye was pushed out of its eye socket. To me, it all looked like a very bad outcome. I called a priest who gave him the Last Rites. Upon my son receiving this sacrament, I was better prepared for whatever was going to happen, especially when the surgeon told me they didn t know if they could save his right eye. (It was only later that I found out that my son had actually died at the scene of the accident. His heart had stopped beating and he was not breathing. The EMT personnel revived him and quickly got him to the nearest hospital.) After additional testing, the doctors found several critical problems. A CT scan showed multiple facial fractures and some bone fragments were crushing my son s right optic nerve. However, since my son s blood pressure was very low, he was not stable enough to undergo surgery. What irony! My son, the eye surgeon, had a major eye injury, in addition to everything else. My son s condition only stabilized enough to allow the surgical intervention after 48 hours had passed. An Act of Faith My son had suffered many injuries: he had multiple facial fractures; he was unable to talk, unable to swallow, unable to walk, he has a brain injury! Now we knew the extent of his injuries but we didn t know what to expect or what to even realistically hope for. Only God knows if he ll survive. That was the saddest day of my life. My oldest son s wife, 2010 Issue The Fatima Crusader

3 Suzanne, had just gotten back home the day before from France. When she heard the news, she rushed over to the hospital. With her, she brought a container of holy water from Lourdes, France. She told me, here, Mom, you know what to do with this! I quickly took the holy water and made a Sign of the Cross with it on my son s forehead, neck/chest and shoulders and quietly prayed my special prayer, one that I had learned when I was only six years old. I asked the Blessed Virgin Mary for Her help in saving my son s life. In return, I promised that I would pray the Rosary every day for the rest of my life. I couldn t even imagine what lay ahead of me. But I soon found out, waiting at the hospital, day and night, with the rest of my family, waiting every day for some improvement. Watching my son suffer was the most difficult of all. He went through several stages that were and still are difficult to describe. I don t want any mother to ever go through that kind of experience! We were watching him but we felt helpless. We could see that he was suffering but we could do nothing to ease his agonizing pain. I kept thinking, God, please take away at least half of his pain and give it to me. The days went by, several more surgical procedures followed, but the outlook was gloomy. One day, I returned from the hospital, alone, and I just broke down and cried. My heart was so full of sadness. Then I Remembered Our Lady s Rosary After awhile I remembered how as a child my grandmother and all of us grandchildren would get together and ask the Virgin Mother Mary for Her help. We had asked that my father and my two uncles stay alive and well and get home safely from the P.O.W. camp. Thanks be to God and His Virgin Mother, everybody in my family came home safely. This thought gave me more hope. My faith and trust in God and in His Blessed Virgin Mother became stronger than iron. You see all my life I have honored the Mother of God. When I was a child of 10 years in Hungary, I often walked miles on pilgrimages during the month of May, on many Sundays. Even today The Fatima Crusader Issue 97

4 in Hungary, some people still partake in these pilgrimages to honor the Holy Mother. A Miraculous Recovery With these thoughts, I truly believed with my whole heart that our Heavenly Mother would answer my prayer. After so much pain and suffering it was such a joy to behold; two months later my son was released from the trauma hospital; after three months, he was able to walk, talk and swallow; eight months later he returned to work for the same hospital. Amazingly, other than some memory deficits, his mental faculties are all otherwise intact. Most all the people who witnessed my son s first 24 hours after the accident thought he would die. And if he somehow managed to live, all of his injuries would render him a shell of the man he once was. BUT, miraculously, my son made it back, as a full functioning human being; I believe, because God had a different plan for him. Our Troubles Can Be God s Blessings Interestingly, many months later, my son told me that this accident was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him; because he found a much deeper appreciation of his Catholic faith. He recognized God s hand in this event and is very thankful to God and His Blessed Mother for not only saving his life, but more importantly saving the life of his soul. He stated from his past life he was always studying, learning, climbing the work ladder and had lots of stress and didn t think of God. The accident forced him to slow down, having the time to think on his life and spiritual matters. Now he spends a good part of his day in prayer, even using spare moments during his work day. He has less stress and has even found his sense of humor again. He is amazed, by God s grace, to see the transformation in himself in seeing what he thought was important comparable to now. One instance is that he doesn t grudgingly go to church, now he wants to. A lot of people look at what he has lost, climbing the surgeon ladder, but my son is thankful for what he has gained a new perspective in 2010 Issue The Fatima Crusader

5 life, a life with God. My son never made the move to New York City either. You see, even though his right eye was saved and has sight, he is no longer able to perform the detailed/delicate microscopic work of eye surgery. He happily works at the hospital as a medical doctor doing presurgical procedures and preadmission testing. Thanks to God and Our Lady Thanks be to God and Our Lady for not only did I get my son back, I got back a new and improved version. I m sure many of you have heard the phrase God often works in mysterious ways I ve seen it! Please PRAY the Rosary every day, as I do. Miracles happen every day through the intercession of the Virgin Mary! Post notes: My son s eye specialist in the optic nerve field was surprised, considering his serious injuries, by some of the improvement in his right eye. Over time there have been small signs that healing has occurred. You see, the optic nerve rarely gets better/ regenerates. In a small way his has gotten better. My son and I attended the Fatima Center s 2006 Bishops Conference that was held in Spain and Portugal. We traveled with the accompanying pilgrimage group. Due to this moving experience we made a total dedication/commitment to say multiple Rosaries every day. My son believes that this commitment has also furthered his spiritual growth and transformation. Sister Lucy speaking to Father Fuentes in the authentic December 26, 1957 interview Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation The of Fatima many souls. Crusader Issue 97